Put People First

Dozens of non-profit organisations are behind what promises to be an amazing event in London this Saturday. Thousands will be marching to tell the G20 to Put People First, with 12 demands relating to Jobs, Justice and the Climate.

This is the start of several days intensive campaigning around the G20 followed by a national People & Planet demonstration at the RBS AGM in Edinburgh on 3 April.

You may doubt the value of such protests, which usually seem to be ignored by politicians. But I think they have a cumulative effect. The knowledge that thousands of voters are seriously pissed off about global injustice gets into politicians' heads. If we don't speak out, they will only hear the voices of corporations.

I'll let you know how these events go,

Pete.

Forgive and Forget McDonald's?

When I began work on corporation-free.org, I had McDonald's in mind for the fast food slot in the Big 8. They are, after all, the model global corporation. Then a friend of mine who really cares about animal rights suggested that I should look into KFC. I’m not big on animal rights myself (cruelty within our own species is shocking enough), but I said I would look into it.

Two things changed mind:

Firstly, I learned about the way KFC's chickens are bred and drugged to grow to ‘killing weight’ in just 2 months fed on soya that is grown in deforested areas of the Amazon.

Secondly, after years of pressure over workers rights abuses, rainforest clearing, animal cruelty and the dubious nutritional value of their food, McDonald's now appear to be leading the sector away from such bad behaviour.

But should we forgive and forget? While I welcome any improvements, I am not ready to forgive. McDonald’s have a lot more to do before they come close to redemption in my eyes. Plus I’m not keen on their food, so I will continue to avoid them.

As for forgetting, when it comes to corporations, we must have memories like elephants, rather than goldfish. Whatever their PR people say, their motivation must remain the same: profit. Behaving responsibly rarely increases profit margins, so real change is only comes about when sustained pressure from activists and consumers starts to effect the bottom-line. If we forget, they can revert to old bad habits without anyone noticing.

Pete

Corporate Power @ The Forum

Those of you who got as far as the 'About' or 'Donate' pages on corporation-free.org will know that I am totally devoted to People & Planet. In fact, I have been a member of Loughborough P&P for six and a half years, including a year as treasurer and a year as chair.

This weekend I will be at the annual P&P decision-making shindig, The Forum. This is not just any forum, and unlike internet forums, it will not dissolve into two people with polar opposite opinions endlessly failing to see each other's point of view. At The Forum, students from all over the country come together to discuss the structure and direction of the network.

Up for grabs this year is the new 'Corporate Power' campaign. Over the years it has become increasingly obvious to our collective conciousness that, where there is injustice, someone is usually making a profit. But how best to tackle the corporate beast? These are the proposals:

• Reclaim and Regrow
• Ethical Investment
• Public Service Not Profit
• Reclaim Education
• Tax Justice
• Total Ethical Procurement
• Ending Exploitation

Whichever one is chosen, I will be sure to let you know and tell you when it is launched towards the end of the year. Watch this space!

Pete

My name is Pete and I'm a hypocrite.

Here comes my big confession!

I have pledged to avoid E.ON and asked you to do the same, yet I still buy electricity from E.ON! I live in a rented flat and I need to get permission from the landlord before switching supplier, which I have not yet done.

Shameful!

Even now, E.ON are spending my money on greenwash. They say they will “help lead the UK into a new low carbon era”, yet they plan to increase their generation from fossil fuels by nearly 80% between 2007 to 2015. They continue to push the myth of “cleaner coal” despite telling the government not to include Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in its conditions for new coal plants because CCS “has no current reference for viability at any scale”. And you'll have to excuse me for being unimpressed that a new Kingsnorth coal power station will be more efficient than the old one, which was built between 1963 and 1973!

So, like me, E.ON are hypocrites. Unlike me, however, E.ON won't be confessing any time soon. When bad behaviour is profitable, denial and deception are much easier than admission and improvement. As individuals, we have to be careful not go the same way. That's why there is a confessions board in the community. If, like me, you sign the pledge before you're quite ready to live without all of the Big 8, be prepared to own up to it!

Pete

Hello, I will be Pete's blog buddy

My name is Madalena and I will be blogging alongside Pete for corporation-free.org.

First things first… Confessions:
My mum works for McDonald's and my dad for Microsoft. As someone dutifully pointed out, I'm practically sponsored by these guys. I went to Christmas parties with Ronald and I’ve been getting shiny brand new editions of Microsoft Office, free of charge, for years.

So... is this all a shameless hypocrisy? Perhaps but it’s all so very ironic! That money, which allegedly comes from enticing little kids to stuff themselves with junk and wrongly monopolising the software industry, is now paying for me to come to University in the UK. It has paid for my lectures on Marxism and for my People&Planet membership. It allowed me to get where I am now, to be truly involved and devoted to social activism.

The truth is I am still ready to hear both sides of the argument. I think both my parents are responsible people who wouldn’t work for devilish, blood-sucking companies. But maybe they do and then I can understand why anyone else might. The dirt is beautifully wrapped in 100-storey sleek skyscrapers and glossy employee-friendly environments. People find themselves surrounded by Néspresso machines and blueberry muffins that whisper: ‘hey, wages that help you get your kids through to college and save for retirement, wink’ and it becomes easy to find legitimate reasons not to dig it up.

The reason why I support corporation-free.org is because even if I am not sure the answer really is a corporation-free world, I am absolutely positive that if they are to exist, they need to become 100% accountable and as of this moment, they’re clearly not.

Madalena